Trump Over-Emphasizes the Military in Afghanistan

Posted: August 11th, 2017

By Barnett Rubin

Dr. Barnett R. Rubin is a Senior Fellow and Associate Director of CIC, where he directs the Afghanistan Pakistan Regional Program. He has worked at CIC since July 2000. During 1994-2000 he was Director of the Center for Preventive Action, and Director, Peace and Conflict Studies, at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Rubin was Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for the Study of Central Asia at Columbia University from 1990 to 1996. Previously, he was a Jennings Randolph Peace Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace and Assistant Professor of Political Science at Yale University.

Six months into his presidency, Donald Trump and his national security team are struggling to develop an Afghanistan strategy. His defense secretary, Jim Mattis, presented a proposal last month, which included an increase in the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan by 4,000 troops, but the president rejected it, ordering his team to come up with a better plan. This week it has been reported that Trump is considering replacing U.S. forces in Afghanistan with private security contractors, an idea that has received heavy criticism.

The Cipher Brief’s Bennett Seftel sat down with Dr. Barnett Rubin, an expert on Afghanistan at New York University, to discuss some of the issues facing U.S. policymakers as they deliberate next moves in Afghanistan.

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